Safeguards for open electricity market consumers placed

SG electricity demand peaked at 7,667MW in October 2021.

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) is working closely with retailers to hedge against future electricity price volatility.

Under the Code of Conduct for Retail Electricity Licensees, retailers who wish to exit the retail electricity market must first approach other retailers to take on their customers under the same contractual terms and conditions.

If the exiting retailer cannot transfer their contracts to another retailer, its customers will be transferred to SP Group. Affected customers will then have the option to accept the transfer or switch to another retailer of their choice.

There will also be no disruption to their customers' electricity supply. Retailers will also not be allowed to charge customers an early termination fee. For household consumers, the retailers are required to refund any remaining security deposits after offsetting outstanding charges.

In the past two weeks, the Singapore wholesale electricity market experienced higher price volatility. These were attributed to increased prices for spot liquefied natural gas due to increased global demand for natural gas and a drop in natural gas and coal production.